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"Tom Elvidge, Uber UK’s acting general manager, said almost all taxi and private hire drivers have been 'self-employed for decades’ and that drivers use Uber because they value the freedom to choose if, when and where they drive."
Once again, like the boss of Pimlico Plumbers when they similarly lost in the CA, fundamentally and inexplicably conflating tax status with employment status. Being self-employed of itself, tells us little and is not in any way inconsistent with worker status. See Lady Hale's distinction between the self-employed working for their own business versus those self-employed working as part of someone's elses, cited at paragraph 100 of this Judgment. Same difference between sole trader plumbers running their own business versus those working as part of Pimlico Plumbers. It's not legal rocket science.... Both PP and Uber will lose in the Supreme Court.
Similarly, working flexibly or on a zero hours contract, doesn't mean you're not a worker, or employee. The "gig" economy is just a hyped up term for casual work. Avoidance of 13.8% National Insurance as well as employment rights being key reasons. And why businesses like Uber can offer cheaper rates than competitors who play fair. It's the workers, HMRC and therefore society as a whole who lose.